Saturday, February 25, 2012

A Tough Session for Public School Educators in Virginia

I have been thinking for weeks that I needed to write something for my blog. I have let lapses in posting grow longer and longer because it seems that I have been busier and busier, and this General Assembly session has been a real bear, frankly, leaving little time for reflection or writing. Things are so dynamic that they change dramatically from day to day. Robley Jones, the Director of the VEA Office of Government Relations and Research has said on several occasions that it is the toughest year he has ever experienced, and he has been doing this work for a lot of years.

As if it isn't bad enough that legislators seem to have it in for public school educators, yesterday the Richmond Times Dispatch decided to participate in a little piling on. Ironically, two of the other major newspapers in the state (the Virginian-Pilot and the Roanoke Times) also offered editorials and they took the exact opposite approach from the Dispatch...but then what else is new, right?

I couldn't let the Dispatch op-ed piece stand without an answer from the VEA, so I am using my blog space today to offer what I wrote in response to their attack on our "Black Friday" effort and our call for Virginia's citizens to wake up to what is happening to public education in the commonwealth.

Please feel free to share as you feel necessary.

Letter to the Editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch, February 24, 2012:

With regard to the February 24th editorial on teachers wearing black last week, I am sorry to see that the RTD has chosen to adopt the same air of disrespect, disdain and disregard for Virginia’s hard working teachers that our legislators have recently adopted. When you don’t care for the facts, I suppose the next best tactic is to simply mock those with whom you don’t agree.

Thousand s of teachers and supporters wore black on the VEA designated “Black Friday” because they know that support for schools from officeholders is declining, while disrespect for the work they do is growing.

It is only partly about the money. It is disingenuous on the part of the editorial board to only call attention to this Governor’s K-12 budget while ignoring the fact that SOQ (Standards of Quality) funding for K-12 schools has been reduced by $1.4 billion, and that permanent changes in the formula have undercut teachers’ ability to do their job. The state’s per-pupil support for public education was at $5,277 in 2009. The governor’s budget would bring it to only $4,730 by 2014. That’s a 12% cut.

Class sizes in Virgina, once very low, now rank us 41st in the nation. This is not the level of support needed to prepare students for a competitive economy.

More than the money issues, however, our teachers and support professionals are upset by the general tone of disrespect, disdain, and disregard that is coming out of Richmond’s legislators and now has been piled upon by the Richmond Times Dispatch editorial board.

Teachers really don’t ask for much, and most of them expect even less. They have, in many cases, dedicated half of their lives to children other than their own because they had a calling and felt a need to make a difference. Most of them struggle to make ends meet, but they never expected to “get rich” doing what they chose to do.

What has shocked and disappointed them, however, is they have now been labeled by some politicians as “greedy, entitled, and lazy.” The last straw was the most recent attack on continuing contract which is not tenure. Teachers in Virginia do not have tenure and never have. The suggestion that teachers have lifetime jobs with “irrevocable life time security” is bogus. This needless and unwarranted attack on their professionalism and dedication to their chosen profession is simply the last straw.

We’ll wear black every Friday if it gets people’s attention and causes the citizens of Virginia to take note of what is happening to our students and those who work in schools.

So, mock if you will, but unlike this editorial board, we know what the real issues are.

About Me

I am a former educator turned Career Transition and Job Search Coach specializing in helping teachers who are experiencing job burnout and eager to find professional alternatives. I have also been working with individuals from around the world as an Independent Coach with CareerHMO and particularly enjoy working with mid-career professionals who are seeking to reinvent and retool themselves for their next professional endeavor.

I am a certified Life Strategies and Stress Management Coach with an additional certification as a Holistic Life Coach. I am the author of the eBook, Stressed, Stretched, and Just Plain Overwhelmed: A Guide to Managing Your Stress and Developing a Greater Sense of Work-Life Balance. In addition to being an author and regular contributor to Careerealism, I am a professional speaker and workshop facilitator. I am a member of both the International Coach Federation and the National Speakers Association. Additionally, I am a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA.

Who I Help:

I help teachers who fall into three categories: teacher leaders, teachers in distress, and teachers in transition.

I believe that many teachers are suffering from the highest levels of stress and the lowest levels of morale in history.

I also believe that many teachers are experiencing something akin to post traumatic stress disorder, and it is having a negative net effect on their lives in every way: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Some teachers have decided that it is time to fight back, and they are looking to enhance their leadership abilities so that they can exert greater influence on their profession.

Others are questioning their choice of career, and they are wondering if they have the stamina to stay.

And still others are too close to retirement to quit, but are eager to transition as soon as they can and wonder what life after a lifetime of teaching might entail.

How I Help:

I coach, mentor, advise, and counsel teachers who want to make a greater impact on their profession, who are struggling with the major question or whether to stay or to go, and who are considering life after a lifetime of teaching as they approach retirement and the question of, "What's next?"

I offer individual coaching sessions, online coaching programs, and stress management workshops where I present the 7 simple strategies that one can start using right away in order to be more resilient in the face of the inevitable changes and challenges of life especially as they pertain to teachers in whatever category they may fall.